(Jimmy P / Photo Courtesy of NYRA)

From the NYRA Media Team:

Madaket Stables, Molly Willis and Paul Willis’ Jimmy P has found his best stride over the hurdles at Saratoga Race Course, and returns to the scene of back-to-back wins in the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard when he takes on seven rivals in Wednesday’s Grade 1, $150,000 Beverly R. Steinman, a 2 3/8-mile steeplechase test for older horses.

The Steinman, which features three Grade 1 winners, is slated as Race 1 on Wednesday ahead of the New York Showcase Day portion of the card, which features six $200,000 stakes for New York-breds. First post for the 10-race program is 12:35 p.m. Eastern, with gates opening to the public at 11 a.m.

Wednesday’s program kicks off the 2026 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which is highlighted by the 158th edition of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 6. The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will include 10 Grade 1 races among 18 graded stakes across five days of world class competition. For more information and to buy tickets, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont-stakes/.

Trained by Keri Brion, Jimmy P is 2-for-4 over the Spa hurdles, led by a 34 1/2-length trouncing of the Sheppard in 2024 after the favored Zarak the Brave fell at the second fence. Last year, Jimmy P returned to the Spa and posted an even fifth in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Handicap, but rebounded with a determined three-quarter-length title defense in the Sheppard.

“He’s such a funny horse because he just loves Saratoga,” Brion said. “He doesn’t really love anywhere else. The main goal is to try and win the Sheppard for the third year in a row. By all means he’s doing great, and we know he loves this track, so fingers crossed for the Steinman.”

The 8-year-old Slumber gelding ran off-the-board in a pair of starts in October and November to close out last season, and made his 8-year-old bow on May 2 in the 2 1/8-mile Grade 1 Commonwealth Cup, where he tracked 2 1/2 lengths off the pace through the first half under Stephen Mulqueen before making a mild run and weakening to finish fifth-of-7 behind victorious returning rival Little Trilby.

Brion noted Jimmy P has never run his best races in his seasonal debuts, and that she was not discouraged by the effort.

“He actually ran fine when we ran him in the Grade 1 at the Gold Cup,” Brion said. “He just was going to need the race. If you dissect his races in prior years in the spring compared to this one, he actually probably ran his best race with what we’ve seen from him in the spring. Stephen actually thought at the second-to-last [fence] that he was kind of running and thought he might win it. He ran good and he came out of it well.”

Brion added Jimmy P, who will race with blinkers off, should relish the stretch-out back to 2 3/8 miles.

“He loves it,” she said of the distance. “For whatever reason, two and three-eighths at Saratoga just seems to be what he wants to do. I don’t know why, because when you train him in the mornings, you wouldn’t necessarily think this is a Saratoga horse. But he comes alive there, and we have planned everything around Saratoga for him.”

Over the jumps, Jimmy P has posted a 21-5-2-0 record with more than $350,000 in purse earnings. He was bred in Kentucky by Head of Plains Partners and Madaket Stables, and is out of the Scat Daddy mare My Love Venezuela, making Jimmy P a full-brother to Grade 3-winner Sy Dog.

Mulqueen, who was aboard for both Sheppard wins, will ride Jimmy P again at 148 pounds.

Steep opposition will be provided by the high-weighted Ziggle Pops, winner of the 2024 Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick here for Hall of Fame trainer Jack Fisher. Campaigned by Bruton Street-US, the 9-year-old Zoffany gelding has finished third in two graded events this year, including last out in the Grade 1 Iroquois on May 9 at Percy Warner 2 1/4 lengths behind victorious stablemate Zabeel Champion.

Ziggle Pops, who did not race in 2025, made his only Saratoga outing in the 2024 Smithwick, where he stalked and pounced to a dominant 4 1/4-length victory under Graham Watters off a third in the inaugural running of the Steinman. The evergreen gelding has hit the board in 8-of-10 starts over the hurdles, including a 10 1/2-length handicap victory in May 2024 at Percy Warner.

Jamie Bargary will climb aboard Ziggle Pops at a field-high assignment of 158 pounds.

Fisher will also be represented by Riverdee Stable and Ten Strike Racing’s Rocket One [Freddie Procter, 146 pounds], who broke through at the stakes level last out with a half-length score in the Marcellus Frost on May 9 at Percy Warner. The 7-year-old son of Into Mischief has won 3-of-9 hurdle starts since moving from the flat in 2023.

The aforementioned Little Trilby [Jack Kennedy, 156 pounds] leads a trio of contenders for conditioner Richard Hendriks, and makes his return to Saratoga off his 6 3/4-length stroll in the Commonwealth Cup. The 6-year-old Golden Horn gelding made his seasonal debut there off a near six-month respite dating to a troubled start in the Grade 1 Colonial Cup in November at Camden when he fell at the second hurdle.

Last summer, the Del Rio Racing-campaigned Little Trilby landed off-the-board in the Steinman when making his graded debut, but relished a move back to the novice ranks with a 12 1/4-length score in the Michael G. Walsh Novice over Wednesday’s course and distance.

Hendriks will also send out the talented pair of Del Rio Racing’s Coutach [Jake Coen, 150 pounds] and Upland Flats Racing’s Hidden Path [Conor Tierney, 148 pounds]. The former enters from a neck score in the restricted Green Pastures on May 9 at Percy Warner, while the latter looks to finish one better than his runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Temple Gwathmey Handicap last out on April 18.

Completing the field are Grade 1-placed McTigue [Harrison Beswick, 144 pounds] for trainer Cyril Murphy and the lightly-raced stakes-winner We’re Back Again [Danny Mullins, 144 pounds] for trainer Barry Foley.

America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.